The present invention relates to a flattened bamboo panel having one single, solid layer of pressed bamboo culm wall with both exterior and interior zones. Made from one single bamboo cane, the processed bamboo panel is adhesive free. Also disclosed is the process of constructing such bamboo panel.
Various bamboo products are known in the art. Typically, bamboo panels are constructed from tube-shaped bamboo canes, which consist of nodes and culm wall. From outside to inside, the bamboo culm wall further comprises of exterior zone, middle zone and interior zone. To make a bamboo panel, a substantial portion of the exterior and interior zones of the culm wall is typically removed before it is extended and flattened to make the panel.
Problems that may arise in such process include low utilization rate of the raw material, excessive use of adhesive, obvious cracks on the surface of the processed panel and high manufacturing costs.
Numerous attempts have been tried to address the above problems. The common culm-splitting approach in bamboo plate industry has low material utilization rate, and its extensive use of adhesive also results in high manufacturing costs. The bamboo-tube-compressing-and-expanding approach improves the utilization rate; however, the processed panel surfaces often contain obvious cracks. The rotatory-cutting-and-expanding approach imposes stringent requirements on the shape of culm wall and therefore cannot be applied in mass production. The whole-bamboo-cane-extending approach improves the surface smoothness of the processed panel; however, the raw material utilization rate is still low because most of the exterior and interior zones of the bamboo culm wall must be removed. The thickness of the bamboo panels so constructed is often less than 8 mm.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved method to construct bamboo panel from bamboo canes.